ICE will be at Seattle’s World Cup matches; FIFA organizers say focus is human trafficking

Seattle is four months away from the World Cup, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has confirmed it will have a presence at the matches in each city.

At a Congressional hearing this week, immigration leaders confirmed that ICE, among other federal law enforcement agencies, would be on site at this summer’s World Cup games.

Seattle officials note fans shouldn’t fear ICE activity at World Cup

April Putney is part of Seattle’s FIFA organizing committee and said she’s been assured their presence will be a lot like what was seen during the Super Bowl.

“I was on a call with the White House Task Force, and they really wanted to make a point to all the 11 U.S. cities, saying, ‘Just because there are folks there from ICE and Border Patrol, doesn’t mean that they are there as part of an immigration action,'” Putney said.

Putney noted that ICE responsibilities at the World Cup are focused on the prevention of human trafficking, and this is what the FIFA committee expects to see.

Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. ICE Enforcement, was asked if he understood that ICE’s activities would “hurt the entire process” of the event if fans felt they could be wrongfully incarcerated, to which he replied:

“Yes, ma’am. ICE is dedicated to assuring that everyone who visits their facilities will have a safe and secure event,” he said.

Seattle will host six World Cup matches at Lumen Field, with the first taking place on June 15. Seattle will host one group stage match featuring the United States men’s national team, which will be played against Australia on June 19.

Contributing: Jason Sutich, MyNorthwest

Read more of Jillian Raftery’s stories here.